01/16/2013 - Northwestern Report Card

[hhcdave]

OFFENSE: B+

 

Nebraska is 10-0 when it shoots 40% or better from the field, so today's 45% definitely got it done!

 

Plus, NU scored a legitimate 64 points, even without the fouling at the end, considering NU couldn't convert time and time again at the charity stripe.

 

That reason (12-23 for the game) plus Nebraska coming out sluggish in the first eight minutes of the game, kept this from being an "A."

 

Dylan Talley and Brandon Ubel are Co-Players of the Game today. I hate having Co-Players twice in the same season but you just couldn't pick between them. Talley had a more glamorous line (20 and 8) but Ubel's 14 and 12 was probably even bigger. Plus, as we'll detail later, he helped key Nebraska on the glass.

 

Big props to Ray Gallegos, too, both for all of his extra hard work at the gym last night, this morning and throughout his career, but also for "staying with it" and hitting three VERY KEY trey's that kind of broke this one open in the middle stages of the second half. He went from "0" to "9" very quickly.

 

DEFENSE: A

 

I thought Nebraska was borderline spectacular in this game against the "Princeton offense" that it hadn't seen yet during this campaign.

 

Luckily, Coach Miles and Coach Smith devised a game plan that essentially took away back cuts and easy looks at the rim off of all the "screen'age action" going on. That forced Northwestern to hock up a number of three's, and if it wasn't red hot, NU's offense and rebounding were good enough that it wasn't going to win. Luckily for NU, it wasn't.

Again, I'd like to especially applaud Ubel, Talley and Gallegos for their work defensively.

 

And, I think we need to give Benny Parker a "shout" for doing some nice things, too, including one easy layup off of a steal and another that SHOULD have gone down, too (and would 9 out of 10 times).

 

Nebraska held Northwestern to 32% from the field - LOVE IT!!!

 

REBOUNDING: A+

 

Nebraska out rebounded the Wildcats by nine (43 to 34) and in the first half, had something like eight offensive rebounds as compared to two. AKA, they really did a great job in half number one. I believe they were also up by 13 on the glass at the half.

 

Very impressive considering Northwestern having some decent size AND considering we played only one "true" experienced post player in Ubel.

 

I also have a comment on our rebounding under "Coaching" a bit later!

 

BALL HANDLING: B+

 

11 turnovers and 10 assists - very nice.

 

Nebraska also (for the most part) handled the Mickey Mouse zone traps Northwestern threw our way without much of an issue.

 

Surprisingly, Parker finished with 5 turnovers as compared to just 2 assists. Didn't seem that bad as the game was live, did it?

 

COACHING: A+

 

In regards to my rebounding comment above, I was very pleased to see Miles take his 30 second "use it or lose it" timeout around the 5 minute mark of the first half, after NU allowed TWO offensive rebounds that led to an eventual three. He TORE INTO THEM and was not happy.

 

Again, and I feel like a broken record, but he gets Nebraska good looks 4 out of 5 times out of timeouts.

 

He went small today and stuck it out with a group that was tenacious on "D."

Speaking of "D", he had NU prepared for the Princeton offense as well as you'll see. And better than recent Big 10 opponents who have played Northwestern (I've seen 3 of their last 4 games).

 

I was sitting three rows behind the Nebraska bench so I can also tell you I enjoyed seeing Miles in the exact opposite of the above "chew out" session, too. What I mean by that was, after Gallegos had zero points and was "Oh fer" for the first 60% of the game, he pulled him aside during a timeout, made a joke, laughed and patted him as if to say, "keep shooting - stay loose."

 

He knows how to reach different guys and COMMUNICATE effectively. That was just as effective as chewing out the team during the first half timeout, and both were equally important.

 

I can't give Miles enough props today (or 85% of the season).

 

OVERALL GRADE: A

 

Nebraska took it to a solid NIT team, borderline NCAA team, in a loss that will surely cost the Wildcats a chance at the latter. This one will haunt them for awhile, and as this seems to happen to Northwestern year after year, you wonder how much longer their head man will continue to surivve.

 

For NU and Miles' sake, especially with his expertise with defending the Princeton offense, hopefully for a good long while!

 

PLAYER OF THE GAME: DYLAN TALLEY & BRANDON UBEL

RAY GALLEGOS - 8

DYLAN TALLEY - 5

BRANDON UBEL - 4

SHAVON SHIELDS - 3

DAVID RIVERS - 2

JORDAN TYRANCE - 1

 

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[kldm64]

With the slow start, I didn't think we'd even hit 40 points so congrats to the team for turning it on when needed.  I thought Talley played much more in the flow of the offense.  Ubel had a decent game as well.  Parker played better is still frustrating on defense as he guy blew by him several times.  He also had way to many turnovers but did have a few nice steals.  Overall, the team played well today and I like having a short rotation.  We really don't have much of a choice.  As long as we can stay out of foul trouble, we'll be OK.  Great win today and would be nice if they could steal one on the road at Minnesota.

[Huskerpapa]

You take away the first 7 minutes of the game today, and this was an absolutely well played game.  But that first seven minutes...yikes.

[HB]

Good card, good comments.  Especially on the defense.  I suspect Craig Smith is a damn good coach.  He had the scout, and designed the D against the Princeton offense. 

[uneblinstu]

Plus, NU scored a legitimate 64 points, even without the fouling at the end, considering NU couldn't convert time and time again at the charity stripe.

NU didn't get above 3 until Shields' layup with 12 minutes left.  61 points in the last 28 minutes of the game is pretty good!  I like it!

[Norm Peterson]

I think Miles said on the post-game that Smith did the gameplan and that Smith made the comment afterward that they've now won 18 of their last 20 (as a coaching staff) against teams running the Princeton offense.  They feel like they know how to defend the thing.  And the results show it.  Northwestern wasn't getting any kind of looks early in their offense. They were running the clock down darn near every possession.  Which suggested to me that they, Northwestern, would never be able to build much of a lead if they did get ahead, nor would they be able to cut very far into a big lead if we happened to get one.  They just plain were not going to score in bunches.  And they didn't.

[uneblinstu]

Norm, they talked about that on the broadcast, too.  Evidently everyone in the MWC employs the Princeton offense.

 

Also, nice to run into you today.  I miss hitting up practice every once in a while...

[49r]

COACHING: A+

 

In regards to my rebounding comment above, I was very pleased to see Miles take his 30 second "use it or lose it" timeout around the 5 minute mark of the first half, after NU allowed TWO offensive rebounds that led to an eventual three. He TORE INTO THEM and was not happy.

 

Again, and I feel like a broken record, but he gets Nebraska good looks 4 out of 5 times out of timeouts.

 

He went small today and stuck it out with a group that was tenacious on "D."

-----

 

Did someone say "tenacious D"???

 

 

[Norm Peterson]

Back atcha, uneblinstu.  

[kldm64]

I find it interesting that everyone thought of Doc as a defensive coach but yet I'm been more impressed with our defense this year with a more limited roster.  I think Coach Miles and staff knows how to coach both ends of the floor instead of just one.  The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades... 

[Handy Johnson]

Nice to see us take it to someone for a change. Defense was outstanding.The Wildcats came in riding high, and left with their dobber down.

[hhcmatt]

BTW, congrats to Kye Kurkowski for his first official Husker career points!

[Huskerpapa]

BTW, congrats to Kye Kurkowski for his first official Husker career points!

...and it was quite the shot....

[hhcmatt]

Post game notes courtesy of Huskers.com

 

 

Lincoln – Brandon Ubel and Dylan Talley combined for 34 points and 20 rebounds, leading Nebraska to an impressive 64-49 win over Northwestern Saturday afternoon.

Nebraska (11-10, 2-6 Big Ten) relied on its seniors and turned in one of its best defensive efforts of the season in snapping a three-game home losing skid.

Talley paced Nebraska with 20 points, while tying his season high with eight rebounds. The 6-foot-5 senior hit 8-of-15 shots from the floor in posting his fourth 20-point effort of the season and first in conference action. Talley also shined on the defensive end, holding Reggie Hearn, the Wildcats’ leading scorer, to just six points on 2-of-11 shooting.

Ubel turned in another strong performance, as the Huskers were without Andre Almeida because of an injury suffered in practice earlier in the week. Ubel posted his fourth double-double of the year with 14 points and 12 rebounds, including seven offensive boards. Ubel, who played 39 minutes, also dished out three assists and blocked a pair of shots. His 12 rebounds were one shy of his career high, but marked a career high for a league game.

While Talley and Ubel paced the offense, a collective team effort helped limit Northwestern to 49 points, the Wildcats' second-fewest points this season. Northwestern shot just 32.1 percent from the field – the lowest effort against Nebraska this season - including 6-of-29 from the three-point line.

The Wildcats relied on Dave Sobolewski for the majority of their scoring, as the sophomore poured in a season-high 21 points, accounting for nearly half of Northwestern's total points. Jared Swopshire had 11 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, but the Wildcats were out-rebounded 43-34.

Leading 34-22 at the half, the Huskers put together one of their most efficient halves of the season. Nebraska hit 13 of their 24 shots in the second half, shooting 54.2 percent from the field. Talley scored 10 points in the second half, while junior Ray Gallegos scored all 11 of his points in the final 20 minutes.

The Huskers led 35-31 before Gallegos keyed a decisive 11-4 run with a trio of 3-pointers in a span of 2:36, as Nebraska extended its lead to 46-34 on Ubel’s jumper. The Wildcats (12-9, 3-5 Big Ten) were within 52-40 after a 3-pointer from Sobolewski, but Talley answered right back with a pair of jumpers and Nebraska kept the Wildcats at bay down the stretch.

Nebraska returns to action on Tuesday night, as the Huskers take on No. 12 Minnesota at 8 p.m. The game will be carried on the Husker Sports Network and televised on BTN. Nebraska’s next home game is against No. 14 Ohio State next Saturday, Feb. 2, at 6 p.m. and tickets are available by calling Huskers.com or visiting 800-8-BIGRED.

Notes: 
*-Nebraska is now 9-2 when getting at least three players into double figures
*-Nebraska’s 15-point margin of victory is its largest at home this season (previous high was 13 against UNO on Nov. 18)
*-Nebraska held Northwestern to 32.1 percent shooting, the lowest shooting by a Husker opponent this year. The previous low was 34.0 percent by Valparaiso on Nov. 18. 
*-Nebraska’s 64 points marked the 10^th time the Huskers scored at least 60 points in a game. In those games, Nebraska Is 9-1, and has not lost when scoring above 60 points (NU scored 60 vs. Kent State)
*-Nebraska shot 45.1 percent against Northwestern and is 10-0 on the season when shooting above 40 percent.
*-Dylan Talley collected his fourth 20-point game of the season with 20 points and tied his season high with eight rebounds. Talley’s 20 point is his highest total in a Big Ten game at Nebraska
*-Nebraska now has 11 20-point games this season by six players. 
*-The Huskers out-rebounded Northwestern 43-34, the first time in conference play Nebraska has out-rebounded an opponent. 
*-Brandon Ubel collected his fourth double-double of the season and fifth of his career with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Ubel’s 12 rebounds were one off his career high. 
*-With 14 points today, Ubel moved into the top 50 scorers in school history and now has 755 points, tying Bus Whitehead (1948-50) and Jorge Brian Diaz (2010-12) for 48^th place on the chart.
 

 

Nebraska Head Coach Tim Miles
On the biggest difference from the second half compared to the start of the game
“I thought we had a good energy level going on during the game. We missed some open shots, and we made some rash decisions and took some bad shots and then kind of steadied ourselves a little bit. Once we got even at 11, I’m like we’re O.K., now we can go. I thought we were pretty good from there on out.”

 

On if he was glad Northwestern switched to zone defense
“I thought we attacked the zone pretty well. They gave us some pretty good 3-point looks. I don’t mind zone. I think it gives us different looks; looks we can make. I like to think we can score off of man, but we haven’t proven that yet.”

 

On Ray Gallegos’ three-point shooting performance
“He had just had his head down because nobody’s harder on themselves than Ray. I mean we practiced last night, and Ray stayed for a half hour after practice to work on his shot. I get here this morning at 8 and he’s got a full sweat going because he’s already been here. There’s a young guy that is working for it and I’m so happy to see his success in the second half. When he made that first one, he kind of hung that follow through up there extra long. And that’s good. I know that if we can get him good looks, he can make them. Sometimes, we just put a lot of pressure on him. We get him going 100 miles per hour running off screens away from the basket and everyone’s keying on him. And then everyone’s hedging on him. We’ve put him in some tough spots, but I think he’s done a good job and tonight in the second half, he was really important to us.”

 

 On the team’s energy tonight
“I thought we had these guys really well scouted. Coach Craig Smith had the scout and he does a really nice job. I think that we were in a position to guard their actions. I thought we did that and in the end, made them one-dimensional. You have to win the paint against Princeton teams. Tonight it was 30-22, and we won. That’s a really important element of the game.”

 

On Dylan Talley’s performance tonight
“I thought Dylan did a really nice job on both ends of the floor. Offensively, he got us into our stuff and facilitated some of our stuff. He handled the zone for the most part pretty well and he made some shots. Dylan puts a lot of pressure on himself. He wants to be perfect and he wants things to go really well. Sometimes he’ll make mistakes because of that. We had a little deal at the end of the first half where we didn’t rebound really well. I wanted to make sure that we finished the half well because against these Princeton (offense) teams, they kind of wear you out at the end of the game and the end of the half and that’s where they really hook and phase you. I just felt like we were losing our focus a little bit, and Dylan was in the middle of getting the guys organized and did great the whole night.”

 

Northwestern Coach Bill Carmody
Opening Statement
“Nebraska did a great job defensively tonight. They’ve been a pretty good defensive team all year, so I knew we were going to have to make shots. I thought defensively in the beginning, we did a good job.  I didn’t think they were getting great shots. I thought we were getting some pretty good shots, but then after 8-9 minutes, it was like 10 to 5. I think we had to capitalize more at the beginning of the game. Then we got down to 4 or 5 and then Gallegos hit a couple 3’s from the corner and that’s when things turned around for us.

 

We got a little too undisciplined defensively. There were too many holes. Basically, I just looked at the stats, and we were 6 of 29 for three. Early on, we really didn’t have a lead. At the end, there, we weren’t getting very good shots. After that, just so so. Sobolweski was hitting a few shots there early, but then they tightened up on him. We’ll just have to start again on Monday.”

 

On switching up the zone in the first half
“Our offense was so bad and their defense was so good. With that combination, I just wanted to do it to generate some offense, you know? See if we could get their hands on a few balls, see if we could get something easy because it seemed like it was a struggle all night. There just wasn’t a good flow, and that’s a credit to their defense. That was the reason I switched, to see if we could get out of it. And guys made threes against our man, too.”

 

Nebraska Head Coach Tim Miles
 On the biggest difference from the second half compared to the start of the game
“I thought we had a good energy level going on during the game. We missed some open shots, and we made some rash decisions and took some bad shots and then kind of steadied ourselves a little bit. Once we got even at 11, I’m like we’re O.K., now we can go. I thought we were pretty good from there on out.”

 

On if he was glad Northwestern switched to zone defense
“I thought we attacked the zone pretty well. They gave us some pretty good 3-point looks. I don’t mind zone. I think it gives us different looks; looks we can make. I like to think we can score off of man, but we haven’t proven that yet.”

 

On Ray Gallegos’ three-point shooting performance
“He had just had his head down because nobody’s harder on themselves than Ray. I mean we practiced last night, and Ray stayed for a half hour after practice to work on his shot. I get here this morning at 8 and he’s got a full sweat going because he’s already been here. There’s a young guy that is working for it and I’m so happy to see his success in the second half. When he made that first one, he kind of hung that follow through up there extra long. And that’s good. I know that if we can get him good looks, he can make them. Sometimes, we just put a lot of pressure on him. We get him going 100 miles per hour running off screens away from the basket and everyone’s keying on him. And then everyone’s hedging on him. We’ve put him in some tough spots, but I think he’s done a good job and tonight in the second half, he was really important to us.”

 

 On the team’s energy tonight
“I thought we had these guys really well scouted. Coach Craig Smith had the scout and he does a really nice job. I think that we were in a position to guard their actions. I thought we did that and in the end, made them one-dimensional. You have to win the paint against Princeton teams. Tonight it was 30-22, and we won. That’s a really important element of the game.”

 

On Dylan Talley’s performance tonight
“I thought Dylan did a really nice job on both ends of the floor. Offensively, he got us into our stuff and facilitated some of our stuff. He handled the zone for the most part pretty well and he made some shots. Dylan puts a lot of pressure on himself. He wants to be perfect and he wants things to go really well. Sometimes he’ll make mistakes because of that. We had a little deal at the end of the first half where we didn’t rebound really well. I wanted to make sure that we finished the half well because against these Princeton (offense) teams, they kind of wear you out at the end of the game and the end of the half and that’s where they really hook and phase you. I just felt like we were losing our focus a little bit, and Dylan was in the middle of getting the guys organized and did great the whole night.”

 

Northwestern Coach Bill Carmody
Opening Statement
“Nebraska did a great job defensively tonight. They’ve been a pretty good defensive team all year, so I knew we were going to have to make shots. I thought defensively in the beginning, we did a good job.  I didn’t think they were getting great shots. I thought we were getting some pretty good shots, but then after 8-9 minutes, it was like 10 to 5. I think we had to capitalize more at the beginning of the game. Then we got down to 4 or 5 and then Gallegos hit a couple 3’s from the corner and that’s when things turned around for us.

We got a little too undisciplined defensively. There were too many holes. Basically, I just looked at the stats, and we were 6 of 29 for three. Early on, we really didn’t have a lead. At the end, there, we weren’t getting very good shots. After that, just so so. Sobolweski was hitting a few shots there early, but then they tightened up on him. We’ll just have to start again on Monday.”

On switching up the zone in the first half
“Our offense was so bad and their defense was so good. With that combination, I just wanted to do it to generate some offense, you know? See if we could get their hands on a few balls, see if we could get something easy because it seemed like it was a struggle all night. There just wasn’t a good flow, and that’s a credit to their defense. That was the reason I switched, to see if we could get out of it. And guys made threes against our man, too.”

 

 

Nebraska Guard Dylan Talley
On if the team had a different energy at the start of the game
“Yeah the last couple of home games we came out flat, so in this game we came out with a sense of urgency. We went out there with a purpose to play hard and let it all hang out and see what happens.”

 On bouncing back after an slow start early
“We didn’t even think about the offensive side of the ball this game, we just knew we had to keep competing on the defensive side of the ball, and we knew that the offense would come later on and eventually it did. That is what kind of attitude we need to have.”

 On his overall play during the game
“Oh I don’t know yet, I haven’t put much thought into it. I’m just happy to get the win. I don’t really care if people tell me how good I played today, I am just happy we got our first home win in the Big Ten.”

 Junior Guard Ray Gallegos 
On where he thought his shot was coming into today’s game
“I mean the last couple games I felt like I was just off a little bit so I figured I should put up some more shots and try to get my rhythm back. In the first half, I was pretty quiet, but my teammates encouraged me to stay confident and then in the second half I continued to come out and shoot.”

On what Brandon (Ubel) and Dylan told him at halftime 
“They just came to me and told me to stay positive because they knew I could shoot. They told me that they were going to get me open and get me shots so I just needed to knock the shots down.”

 On what time Ray got to the gym this morning
“7:15 a.m.”